Survivor villain Russell Hantz is treading in some hot water just 2 weeks before CBS' Survivor 21: Redemption Island premieres. Spoiler information from Survivor: Samoa and Survivor Heroes VS Villains has been attributed to Hantz.

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In August 2010 DJB, Inc, a company owned by Mark Burnett filed a lawsuit against John Doe for misappropriation of trade secrets and tortious interference with contract. The lawsuit was filed in response to spoiler information that was posted online that accurately reported winners of competitions and order of elimination.

Attempts were made to keep the lawsuit low key - Survivor was not specifically mentioned in the filings, instead the show was identified as "a product that generates substantial interest among members of the public, and which releases information about the venture to the public on a periodic basis during business cycles. To protect the value of the business, it is vitally important that information about what is to be released to the public next in a particular business cycle be kept secret."

Authorities used IP address information to track the source of the spoilers that were posted on a reality TV fan forum under the name "missyae" to Jim Early.

The lawsuit against Early was dismissed without prejudice on January 13, 2011 after Early cooperated with authorities and identified Hantz as the source of the information that he posted. Early says that he and Hantz spoke on a number of occasions over the phone and has also turned over emails from Hantz with key spoiler information.

Early revealed that he first contacted Hantz when the Survivor villain's private contact information was posted online during the airing of Survivor 19: Samoa. Early called the phone number to warn Hantz. The two spoke for awhile and Early gave Hantz his own phone number in case Hantz ever wanted to talk.

Hantz called Early that night and teased him with a few tidbits that Early posted online. When Hantz realized the attention that the information generated, he was hooked. As more accurate information was posted and then it began happening again during Survivor 20: Heroes VS Villains, fans began to speculate about Hantz's possible involvement. Hantz was the only contestant in both seasons of Survivor although it was believed that it was Hantz' wife who was actually providing the information.

Contestants on the reality show Survivor must sign a contract that includes a clause that states that contestants may not reveal the elimination of contestants and the selection of any winner" - the penalty for doing so is $5 million.

CBS' Survivor returns on February 16, 2011 at 8:00 PM ET to air Season 21 - Redemption Island.

According to the latest blog by Andy Dehnart at TheDailyBeast.com, Survivor Villain Russell Hantz had given results of Survivor Seasons 19 and 20 to message board poster, Jim Early, for the purpose leaking spoilers to the internet.

Survivor fan Jim Early was sued late 2010 by Survivor Creator Mark Burnett's company DJB Inc. for "misappropriation of trade secrets" and "tortious interference with contract." The lawsuit was dropped in January 2011 when Early gave up the identity of his Survivor spoiler source... Russell Hantz.

• Early began talking to Russell Hantz on the phone, who would tease information. Once Hantz saw the attention the information got on the Survivor Sucks message boards, Early said, “he just started coming out and telling me what happened: who was leaving, who won challenges."

• The Survivor cast members’ contract states that contestants may not reveal "the elimination of contestants and the selection of any winner." The penalty for doing so is "liquidated damages" of $5 million.

• Lawyers, according to Early, were less interested in him that where he had gotten the information. "I gave him an email from Russell spoiling something,” Early said. “They were very happy to get that email, and I have many, many more."

• An email message provided to The Daily Beast by Early that he says is from Hantz identifies the elimination order of two Survivor Samoa contestants, while another message says Hantz will call Early with accurate information about the show.

• Early told The Daily Beast that he gave up Hantz and is talking about him now "because of his attitude about the whole thing, and because Russell tried to implicate another player, an innocent player, who wasn't giving information."

The implicated player in question was Shannon Elkins of Survivor Nicaragua.

We here at RealityGeek are curious if Russell can play any of his "immunity idols" in court?

Credit: Andy Dehnart and Click here for more on this developing story... TheDailyBeast.com

I don't doubt that Russel was the one who blubbed, after all there was always the rumour that missyae was his wife Melanie. But missyae also spoiled Survivor Nicaragua, so Russel had so many informations about a season he did not participate ? Or maybe there is someone else too who gave informations?

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

The backbone of spoiling for years, both for Survivor and TAR, was extensive screenshot analysis of caps from previews. etc. This is where the nitty gritty of spoiler "predictions" as to what happens in an episode traditionally comes from, as evidenced by the outstanding work at Mess Hall and by TDT. This is what I think of as classic spoiling, or "pure" spoiling if you will.

For Survivor, there were also occasional preproduction leaks about the site and cast. There are also those who know a cast member, and info leaks out. It is different from TAR, in that they don't have the luxury of people stumbling over the race in progress and giving us clues.

I think active aggressive spoiling based primarily on leaks from within the cast is a fairly new Survivor phenomenon.

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

In early seasons of Survivor, there would be particular few individuals who would travel all the way down to the country of location that Survivor's currently filming and catch some important spoilers here and there (they're on the grounds). I remembered reading this was revealed from some crazy guy fan book.. how he spoiled Survivor and provided the best spoilers around.

I told ya all Russell was a douchebag. Great Survivor.. so what? I wouldn't be his fan or watch him on TV. Now the best case scenario would be for him to actually WIN this latest season or what then be disqualified from his win?? *EVILLAUGHS*

The season hasn't aired yet, and they would prob like some finale cooperation from him, since they built a season around him and Rob.

Rumor has it that he may have threatened to tell that production helped him find HII's...mind you, not that that is necessarily true, just that he could claim it...and that is all speculation anyway. But interesting to wonder if he perhaps cut a deal.

And maybe because he is CBS's fair headed child...lord knows why, and they think they need him.

When will they learn that they don't need recruits, or gimmicks, or famous/infamous people? Ordinarary people thrust into an extraordinary game...that's what I like.

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

In early seasons of Survivor, there would be particular few individuals who would travel all the way down to the country of location that Survivor's currently filming and catch some important spoilers here and there (they're on the grounds). I remembered reading this was revealed from some crazy guy fan book.. how he spoiled Survivor and provided the best spoilers around.

I told ya all Russell was a douchebag. Great Survivor.. so what? I wouldn't be his fan or watch him on TV. Now the best case scenario would be for him to actually WIN this latest season or what then be disqualified from his win?? *EVILLAUGHS*

Now that you mention it, I DO recall people spoiling early on, oh evil one..

It would be funny if he won, not that he will... he would have outwitted, outlasted and outplayed them all.

CB$ will probably give Ru$$ell a free pa$$ for the $ame rea$on Charlie $heen got a pa$$. (Having the season "in the can" makes no difference; here's a legal blog post with the opinion that the standard NDAs may be invalid.)

"Survivor: Redemption Island" contestant Russell Hantz claims he NEVER leaked secrets about the reality series to a fan blog site -- but TMZ has obtained emails between Russell and the fan who posted the show spoilers.

TMZ spoke with Jim Early who admits publishing spoilers about "Survivor: Samoa," and "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains" -- which both featured Russell. Some of the leaks include how Russell found an immunity idol -- and revealing Russell made the final 3 ... before the episode aired.

The emails -- from September and October 2009 when "Survivor: Samoa" was airing -- were sent between "The Game" (Jim) and "Hantztankering" (Russell). Hantztankering is the name of a water tank company Russell owns.

Jim says he initially met Russell through a "Survivor" fan site ... and after that "he just started telling me what happened on the show."

Jim claims he's coming forward with the emails because he's angry Russell has falsely accused innocent cast members of being the snitch.

Remember, Russell is on the current season of "Survivor" which premiered this week. Calls to Russell and "Survivor" reps were not returned.

This just doesn't sit right with me, apparently he contacted Russell, started getting information which he published and with a pathetic excuse, ratted Russell out when CBS came knocking. Did he tell Russell 'You can trust me! I won't tell anyone.' or did he say... Thanks for the information, no promises made. We don't know but I have my own opinions. When you become a news purveyor, shouldn't you keep your sources safe?

All that said, Russell was beyond stupid to leak details when he knew it violated his NDA. (And whether that really is valid is beyond the point, it violates the trust placed on a contestant when chosen to participate.)